SANTA CRUZ -- Spring-like weather and a national holiday drove many Santa Cruz County people outside to beaches and parks Monday.

Santa Cruz hit 74 on Monday, toasty for this time of year.

Tuesday will bring more of the same, with the sun shining and temperatures in the low 70s as the schools and businesses that were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day reopen.

But the high pressure ridge that's been keeping more traditional winter weather at bay is breaking down. As the week progresses, early cases of spring fever may disappear as a weak cold front blows through.

Forecaster Carolina Walbrun of the National Weather Service in Monterey said temperatures will drop gradually through the week, skies will cloud, and the weekend may bring rain.

Walbrun said rain could come as early as Wednesday, but "probably not much, if anything, south of San Francisco or San Jose."